Head of Basij Militia: America’s Knife Has Become Blunt

Rooz Online

Speaking to members of the Basij para-military force at a seminar dubbed “Political Epic Makers – Basiji Bravehearts” in the city of Mashhad, the head of Iran’s Basij force – affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards – asserted that the resistance of the Iranian nation had taught lessons to the enemies of the country and had created fear in them.

“The West has learned that it can not militarily eliminate the devotion and dedication of this nation,” he said. He said talks with the US had resulted in a 10-fold jump in the inflation rate and added, “Those who call on us to talk with the US and make a deal with it are either traitors or thoughtless.” He continued, “They have put sanctions on our oil and increased the price of the Dollar, and precious metals such as gold. Under the conditions they have imposed on us, is it in Iran’s interest to sit at the negotiations table with them?” He said the only area where the West had not imposed sanctions on Iran was food which he said was not done out of sympathy but because it wanted Iran to remain dependant. “Their actions demonstrate their enemosity towards us,” he asserted. “We declare,” he announced, “that America is not our friend and any talk with it is a demonstration of treason or unthoughtfulness.” “America’s knife has become blunt around the world and we must realize that we need an uprising and not talks and agreements,” Naghdi asserted.

Naghdi said the West was also enemical with the Iranian people in the area of the arts which he claimed was demonstrated at the Oscars. “We have witnessed that in the last two years they have been awarding weak anti-Iranian films. Without any doubt, it is the White House that decides which film should be awarded at film festivals,” he alleged. Sports is another area that Naghdi mentioned where the West was against Iran. “They realized that wresting is a sport at which Iran excels and immediately removed it from the Olympics.” He concluded, “They know that they cannot defeat us militarily and so are using their other capabilities against us.”

Naghdi emphasized that the Basij was the front runner in defeating the economic sanctions and creating what he called the “political heroism” or “epic;” terms that are now regularly used by Iranian officials after the country’s supreme leader ayatollah Khamenei in mid March said the next presidential elections in June should create an epic, to contrast it with the last elections that brought forth national protests and bloody confrontations.

Naghdi also claimed that a populist movement had been created in the United States.

Naghdi is a well-know military strongman with a violent record, especially during the 2009 post-election events. He gained notoriety earlier during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency when he cracked down university student protests, particularly in Tehran, when he was the police chief of the city. The US Department of Treasury has imposed a travel ban on Naghdi for being responsible for severe human rights violations, including torture and has also imposed sanctions on transactions with and/or related to him. He is among those who believes that the 2009 popular protests against the official presidential election results were orchestrated and directed by the West.